MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Some residents in the Evergreen District are trying to figure out who will replace a historic pillar destroyed by a driver in a stolen vehicle.

Police said a black Nissan Maxima ran a stop sign at Overton Park Avenue and Garland Street on Tuesday afternoon and hit a Volkswagen Jetta. The driver also slammed into the six-foot-tall concrete and stone structure that serves as a neighborhood marker.

“For them to reduce it to rubble, they had to be going fast,” said Jeff Toony.

Jeff Toony heard the crash from inside his house and ran outside to check on the driver of the Jetta. He said the people in the Maxima were already gone.

“By the time I got out there, I saw feet running that way. Other people saw the kids running,” said Toony.

Witnesses told officers they saw two females in bright-colored shirts and two males in white tank tops running north on Garland. A homeowner’s camera also captured the suspects running through their yard.

Police said the Nissan Maxima was stolen from a home on Belin Drive in northeast Memphis on October 11.

The driver of the other vehicle was transported to Methodist University Hospital but was not seriously hurt.

Toony said the crash could have been much worse. He said the stone pillar located on the corner of his yard likely protected him and his property.

“It shook the house. It shook the house,” said Toony. “Seriously, if that monument had not been there, they would have run into my house and probably smashed into me.”

Toony said he plans to contact the Evergreen Historic District Association and the city to find out who is responsible for the marker. There is an identical stone pillar on the other side of the street. He said they could be up to 100 years old.

“I don’t know if I’m responsible because it’s on my property,” Toony said.

If you know anything about the crash or suspects, call CrimeStoppers at (901)528-CASH.